Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore, Chapter 487: Desperate Counterattack

"Givinia? Givinia?"

At the last second, the lady managed to create distance between herself and Givinia and move towards the ground, while she was held back by the fake for several seconds, which is a very serious mistake in actual combat.

"Are you alright, Givinia?"

"Don't make a sound... I know..."

Her voice finally echoed in my mind, sounding weak and overflowing with mixed emotions.

"If you really can't take it anymore--"

"Don't worry, A Ye, proceed according to the original plan!"

"... Take care then. I just wanted to remind you that the Fourth Movement is about to begin, and you don't have much time left."

"What is the Fourth Movement?"

"Variations, Crystal Realm Flower Sea, is the prelude to the Requiem and the Finale."

I vaguely remember what someone even more demonic had said to her.

"Are you really going to do this?"

"If you continue like this, you'll truly have no way out; you'll have to see this through to the end."

"The erosion of feelings over time is only one reason; the second reason is probably that you've already realized deep down—"

Whether I'm aware of it or not, my goal is simply to kill her and get revenge, nothing more!

"You didn't need to push yourself so hard, especially since she's your only family. If you kill her, you'll truly be all alone."

Ah, yes, I'm all alone now, but so what? Haven't I always lived a solitary life?

"You've always relied on your hatred for her as your pillar, and revenge as your reason for living. If one day you really reach the end... then, where will you go?"

Where to go... where to go?

Whispering sound--!

"Stop joking!!!"

Givinia vanished from her spot and instantly moved to a ground so devastated that words like "utter devastation" wouldn't even begin to describe it. The once Holy City Gloria was gone, leaving only scars forever etched into the earth.

This is how it should be.

"This is..."

As far as the eye can see, from where I stand to the other side of my field of vision, lies a world of nightmarish beauty.

The ground wasn't covered in pebbles, but rather fragments of blood crystals, spreading across the earth while emitting a dazzling, eerie light. It was a mixture of all shades of red—crimson, deep red, ochre, peach, pink, orange—like the aurora borealis washed over by blood, dyeing the earth into a otherworldly paradise... or hell.

Upon closer inspection, these fragments of sand are not simply scattered, but form incredibly complex and intricate patterns, like micro-sculpture. The patterns are not static, but constantly flowing, expanding outwards steadily and rapidly. Where the patterns spread, patches of crimson occasionally bloom—these are Lycoris radiata growing from the crystal sand. From sprouting branches to forming buds and then fully blooming, it only takes a few breaths, but if you gaze intently, those few seconds feel like months.

Of course, neither of them had time to notice the strange and beautiful scenery; their attention was entirely focused on each other.

The woman rubbed her still slightly dizzy head; the effects of the series of heavy blows she had suffered earlier had not completely subsided.

Givinia tensed up, forcibly suppressing her surging, out-of-control emotions.

No further explanation is needed.

Under self-hypnosis, the struggle and hesitation of the previous few seconds vanished without a trace, as if deceiving me.

It's rare for A Ye to prepare such a beautiful stage for herself; it would be a shame not to make good use of it.

Let's go!

With a thought, hundreds of projections surrounded the lady and rushed towards her. The lady clicked her tongue and opened her lips slightly, letting out a loud, high-pitched note that reverberated through the space. However, not all the projections disappeared; at least twenty escaped. Her singing was noticeably off-key, and its power was naturally far less than usual. This was not only because the effects of Givinia's heavy blow had not yet dissipated, but also because of A Ye.

She said this at the time--

"I can also help you to some extent. Based on our observations, she mainly detects people's existence through things like the 'Sound of Life,' and what I have in abundance is life... I will imprint your mark on the life within me, so that the Lycoris radiata can greatly interfere with the lady's perception of you!"

--She was right, she made the right move.

Givinia suppressed her nervous yet excited feelings and controlled the projection attack—to ensure absolute precision, she forcibly reduced the number of projections to only eight!

Aim—the head, neck, sternum, heart, solar plexus, upper, middle, and lower abdomen—each a vital spot that could be fatal with a single, forceful blow! Eight seemingly simple movements encapsulate the essence of Givinia's lifelong martial arts training; a single strike is all it takes. If only—

"As long as what?"

The lady's lips twitched suddenly.

He gave a strange smile.

"Huh!?"

The dizziness he had felt earlier had vanished without a trace, replaced by a slightly tired but confident smile.

The movements of the eight projections stopped simultaneously, bound by an invisible shackle—the shackle of sound—unable to advance an inch. Although they were only millimeters away from her skin, those mere millimeters felt like an insurmountable chasm, determining victory or defeat.

"You noticed that I couldn't launch a decent attack when I was unconscious, and I don't deny that. But... you were too clever for your own good. When you noticed a small detail and thought you could use it to win, you overlooked something else—"

With a snap of his fingers, seven of the eight projections vanished into thin air under the ravages of sound, leaving only one.

"--I'm quite the actor, you know. Although I recovered quickly, pretending to be dizzy is a piece of cake for me."

Pfft!

Spiritual entities intertwine with each other.

The lady's hand pierced the projection's chest, as if trying to grasp its heart.

"Goo... Eh?"

Realizing something was wrong, Givinia tried to withdraw the last projection, but she couldn't! The projection was completely under the control of the Madam, and she had been stripped of her power!

"As expected, I have to deal with you before I can defeat Ye... It's unbelievable. I've always considered that past a lifelong shame, and I thought I had completely severed ties with it, but I never expected..."

His free hand brushed across Givinia's cheek, sliding down her light brown hair.

For a moment, the lady's eyes became confused, then flickered between hatred and pity. As if she didn't want her daughter to see through her gaze, she immediately closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them again, her eyes had returned to normal, filled with arrogant, aloof, and cold beauty.

"We have to get rid of you. Destroying any number of projections won't help, so... let's use this projection to track down your real body!"

A visible twisting sensation emanated from the lady and traveled to Givinia's chest, as if invaded by a cold, venomous snake. This snake slithered through her body for a moment before diving deep inside, tracing its origins and searching for the true self trapped within her flesh—

"Ah, closer, closer... Above, a little higher... Is the true form hidden in the air?"

The lady coldly scrutinized Givinia, whose teeth were clenched tightly, watching her face contort in pain. She was so close to pinpointing the exact location of Givnia's physical body; then she could simply use sound to launch a long-range sniper attack...

"Making minor adjustments... Good! Finally found it! 662 meters above the ground, 27 degrees of deviation, right there—hmm!?"

His confident expression froze instantly.

Incredible.

Although she found the location of Givinia's true form, the result was completely unexpected.

She had explored the area many times before, but no matter how she tried, she could only sense Ye's location and could not find Givinia's true form.

She had previously attributed this to the interference of the Blood Mist and Blood Rain, without giving it much thought.

"... Oh."

Givinia's projected face was still contorted with pain.

But she still forced a smile up her face, a mocking one.

"Ye... this is what he told me...'The so-called trump card has to be unexpected...'"

"You, you all--"

"So? The path of directly... directly destroying my true form... is no longer an option..."

Really.

The location of Givinia's true form completely overlaps with the location of Ye.

There was not the slightest deviation.

In other words,

Ye used his body to hide Givinia.

A little over a minute ago--

"Really, is that how it should be?"

Even Givinia hesitated when faced with the dripping, viscous blood.

"The so-called trump card must be unexpected."

Blood splattered on Givinia's flesh, seeping into her skin, disintegrating her organs, muscles, bones, and nerves from the inside out...

"I... ugh... is this really safe?"

The solid flesh gradually turned into liquid. There was no pain, but the feeling was very strange, as if one's own body was slowly turning into soft mud.

"That's why I said, 'All I want is your trust.' I'm already very good at this kind of thing—transforming flesh into the form of blood and then reshaping it."

First her feet, then her legs, slowly moving upwards to her abdomen, chest, and arms, all dissolving into blood. When the thick, fresh blood of Ye spread to her neck and was about to climb up her chin, Givinia lowered her guard and closed her eyes.

A few seconds later, Givinia's body had completely melted into blood.

The stunningly beautiful woman with peach-pink hair opened her mouth and drank the thick, sticky blood in one gulp.

"G--V--N--Ya!!!!!!!"

A surge of rage welled up in the lady's head; she hadn't considered this possibility at all! She'd been tricked! She'd been completely fooled by this so-called daughter! And she'd thought she had everything under control all along!!

This makes it impossible to kill Givinia directly unless they can use sonic waves to destroy both Ye and Givinia's true form remotely! But she knows Ye's strength; with Ye protecting her, this is absolutely impossible!

Anger transformed into a sonic boom that shook the atmosphere. The projection held in the lady's hand twisted violently, nearly shattering! There was no other way now. Let's use the Song of Smiting Gods a few more times. If all else fails, we'll use our last trump card! We'll risk everything to kill them all!

"--You want to wipe us all out, right?"

However, the light brown-haired girl was still smiling, a smile so gentle that the lady saw it only with a strong sense of irony.

"You could have done it... but unfortunately... Ye's fifth movement is about to begin... right? I remember... the overly intense sound and light effects... might be too much for you to handle for a while, right?"

"Varied--"

Just then, the crystal sand and Lycoris radiata scattered on the ground emitted intense heat, and waves of heat distorted the air, their power even surpassing the lady's voice!

On the devastated land,

Centered on the mother and daughter,

Requiem: Bloodstained Inferno, overshadowing all the light in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a new month again! Last month I was hovering at the bottom, it was really nerve-wracking... I hope everyone will support me more this month!